G/TBT/W/408
11 May 2015
(15-2458)
Page: 1/2
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
Original: Spanish
THAILAND – DRAFT NOTIFICATION OF THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONTROL,
RE: RULES, PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS FOR
LABELS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
STATEMENT BY MEXICO TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
AT ITS MEETING OF 18-19 MARCH 2015
The following communication, dated 8 May 2015, is being circulated at the request of the
delegation of Mexico.
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1. Mexico wishes once again to submit this trade concern with regard to the "Draft Notification of
the Alcoholic Beverages Control, Re: Rules, Procedures and Conditions for Labels of Alcoholic
Beverages", issued by the Government of Thailand and notified to the TBT Committee of the WTO
on 28 March 2014 in document G/TBT/N/THA/437, considering that, by issuing this technical
regulation, Thailand may be contravening basic principles of the TBT Agreement, such as those
relating to proportionality, as contained in Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, and conformity with
international standards, as contained in Article 2.4. In particular Mexico asks Thailand to examine
its compliance with the principle of proportionality provided for in Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement
in the light of the legitimate objective pursued by this regulation, assuming that the aim is:
a. First, to establish pictorial warning labels on the harmfulness and toxicity of alcoholic
beverages, using colour-coded charts authorized by the Alcohol Control Committee of
the Department of Disease Control.
b. Second, to establish prohibitions on the labelling of alcoholic beverages (such as
messages on product quality or characteristics), instead of promoting measures to help
the public obtain accurate information on the effects of alcoholic beverage consumption.
c.
Similarly, Mexico asks Thailand to provide information on the alternative methods that
have been considered in order to achieve the objective defined by the technical
regulation, such as the use of public information campaigns on the effects of excessive
alcohol consumption.
2. Furthermore, Mexico considers that these measures could also constitute violations of the
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement),
due to the wide range of prohibitions established on the use of images (athletes, artists, singers
and cartoon pictures), which could unjustifiably complicate the use of trademarks in the ordinary
course of trade. Accordingly, Thailand is requested to take due account of the provisions
of Section 2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
3. In addition to the foregoing, Mexico is concerned about the fact that the measures provided for
in the technical regulation could seriously affect trade in alcoholic beverages between Thailand and
Mexico. It is also concerned that this might set negative precedents as regards measures for the
labelling of alcoholic beverages in general. Mexico accordingly submitted formal comments to
Thailand on 17 February 2015, along with the following requests:
G/TBT/W/408
-2a. To give due consideration to the comments formally submitted by Mexico with respect
to compliance with the principles that Thailand has undertaken to follow pursuant to
the TBT and TRIPS Agreements.
b. To explain the prohibitions in Article 2 of the draft notification, since these may
be inconsistent with the provisions of Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.
c.
To explain why and provide scientific and technical evidence of how the application
of Sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.6 contributes to the legitimate objective pursued.
d. To reconsider the restrictions on the images that may be displayed on the labelling,
in the light of the TRIPS Agreement.
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